Subj: [ffml] [MW] Respiration Date: 00-01-31 02:01:46 EST From: ReCoN3DFX@aol.com Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com To: ffml@onelist.com From: ReCoN3DFX@aol.com "So. Are you ready?" "As ready as I ever will be. Do you have the payment?" "The payment will be here when you get back." "Fine." "Godspeed." "Whatever." -------------- The moon shone it's brilliant light upon the leaves of the forest. Wolves, inhabitants of this region, began their usual howling. A lone traveler journeyed through the woods, hiking at a slow pace. He wore a pitch black cloak. Because of the fair weather, he declined using his hood, and let his long white hair blow in the wind. If someone had seen him this night, they would think he was a man on a mission. And that he was. -------------- "So, Gordon. You've come the realization that this stupid trade business isn't going to work?" "Hell no. I will stay in this business for the rest of my life! For as long as I live, Thamasa will have the pleasure of having the best damned trader in the whole world" "Hehe. Whatever you say. Just be warned, your recent foray in trading some, shall we say, illegal substances, has caught the eye of many of the members of certain drug cartels." "You mean that tintinabar deal I did with Shu of Narshe? Screw that. No one has anything on me." "I'm just telling you this as your advisor." "You know what? I'm sick of your crap suggestions. I ADVISE you get the hell out of my face. You're fired!" "What? You can't do that!" "I just did, you fool. Now leave. Lepant, come here at once!" A guard rushes up to the trader. "Yes sir!" "Escort this idiot out of my home...NOW." "Yes sir! Whatever you say sir! Come with me." The guard escorts Gordon's former advisor out of the building. "Finally, that idiot is out of my sight. Where are my damned sandals?" "Right here master!" "Thank you Nathaniel. Mmm...you're looking quite tasty tonight Nathaniel...if I should say so myself..." Nathaniel, a teenage servant, blushes. "Thank you master...what are you doing..." Nathaniel notices Gordon's hands have started to slide down the front of his shirt. "Don't let it get to you...come...let's go to my quarters for a few minutes..." --------------- "Can I help you?" The pub had been empty, until a few minutes ago, when a mysterious looking man dressed in a cloak walked in. Han thought he looked very suspicious. "Yes. Do you know where Gordon lives?" "Oh, the trader? Up the street, on the hill. He has the largest home in town." "Thank you." The man dropped some coins on the counter. "Thank you kind sir!" It wasn't every night that Han was paid for telling someone where someone else lived. -------------- The man stepped out from the pub. Taking a deep breath, he took off his cloak. Folding it quickly, he put it aside. There was no need for it anymore. Taking a rubberband from one of the numerous small pockets in his belt, he quickly tied his hair into a ponytail. Looking around, he spotted an alleyway. Quickly, he ran into it. Looking around first to make sure no one was around, he started to unsheathe daggers from around his waist. The Daggers of Kamui. Sacred blades, handed down generation from generation. Engraved in their hilts was the name of the original owner. "Hey, what are you doin' back here?!" Damn. He couldn't be seen without a cloak on. The man quickly scaled the wall of the building nearest him and ran towards his target, the large house on the hill. It was time to pay a visit. Subj: [ffml] [MW] Murder Date: 00-02-05 02:52:42 EST From: ReCoN3DFX@aol.com Gordon had a good time this night. The servant was a good "treat". The self proclaimed "best trader in the world" got up out of his bed and walked over to the bathroom. The house was quiet, except for the sound of chimes as the wind brushed by them. Gordon quickly lit a latern, and walked into the bathroom. Fiddling with the faucet, he eventually turned it on and began to wash his hands. That was when he heard a sound. No, a footstep. Frightened, he turned around. Nothing. Peering into his room, he saw that the window was now open. "Damn wind." Gordon closed the window. "Time to rest..." The trader walked over to the latern, expected to turn it off. When he reached down towards the switch, he felt a stabbing pain shoot through his hand, as it was suddenly pulled towards the wall. The trader's right hand was pinned to the wall by what looked like a sharp object. "AhHhhH!!! What the hell is this?!" he screamed. "Any last words you'd like to recite, before your throat is slit, and you're unable to?" a voice came out of nowhere to say. "You can't do this! I'm not your average trader! I've got guards!" "Guards? They don't seem to be here at the moment. So I'll take the opportunity and seize it." The unseen assailant stepped out from the darkness and revealed himself. Gordon watched as the man, dressed in strange black, almost military attire, unsheathed a large dagger. The thing was probably eight feet long! Gordon was scared to death. The man brushed his long white, almost silver, hair back, and walked towards Gordon. Taking a desperate measure, the trader picked up the lantern with his free hand and threw it. The man swiftly dodged the makeshift projectile, and sliced it cleanly in half in the process. "You idiot. You'll pay for that." he said, angered. "Now bleed." The assassin stabbed Gordon's gut and sliced upwards, stopping at the bottom of the trader's cervix. "What...have...you...done." "You haven't seen anything yet." The assassin pushed something on the hilt of dagger. All of a sudden, Gordon felt strange pressure pushing against the inside of his ribcage. With a sickening crack, the trader's whole midsection came apart. His head and neck were still attached to the body, but now there was a huge, gaping hole in his chest, exposing his insides. Somehow, the assassin's dagger's width had expanded, tearing everything around it in the process. "Why...are you doing this? Just...kill...me..." "Master Gordon!" Three guards broke through entrance of the room. Seeing what the assassin was in the process of doing, they attacked him with their swords. The assassin grabbed the first guard and within seconds snapped his neck. The other two guards hesitated, but eventually they both attacked him at once. He grabbed them both simultananeously by their weapons, and twisted their arms behind them. Then he pushed upwards, removing the arms from their sockets. They cried in agony as he slowly ripped their arms out, and threw them aside. Then he took the dagger out of Gordon, and stabbed each of the two guards, with missing arms, twice each in the face. "Fools." "Kill me! Please..." The trader was still begging. "No. I'd rather watch you burn." The assassin looked around for the lantern he had sliced in half earlier. After a few minutes, he found it, and lit it again. "Here you go." With that, the assassin threw the half of the lantern into the linen curtains. Soon, a pretty good fire had started. The trader was unconscience. The assassin quickly searched through his pack, and found a vial of highly flammable oil. He threw the liquid over the trader's body, as well as the entire room. His work here was now done. Quickly, he jumped out the window, and into the night. What he didn't know was that he had left the vial open, so the oil was leaking as he ran. By the time he made it to the outskirts of town, it was too late. Looking back, he saw the whole town ablaze. Tonight...he had done more than his share of murder. -=Shadow=-